article source: CNBC
overview:
- The U.S. economy has regained 12.5 million jobs since the jobs market crash in March and April of 2020.
- Still, nearly 9 million fewer Americans are working now than last February.
- While enthusiasm is high about an economic rebound later this year, the jobs market faces important concerns now.
- Job placement has focused on retraining workers, though a skills gap remains.
excerpt:
At any other time in U.S. history, creating 12.5 million jobs in nine months would be astonishing. But this is like no other time the nation has seen, and there remains much work to be done to get America back to work again.
January’s nonfarm payrolls report served as a reminder of just how much.
Private jobs grew by just 6,000 for the month as the hospitality, retail and health-care industries continued to cut workers. An increase in government hiring helped bring total payroll growth up to 49,000, but that still left the rolls of the total employed 8.7 million lower than in February 2020, just before Covid-19 officially became a pandemic.